5 Signs You've Been Spiritually Conditioned

https://a.co/d/0fwz2IHmIn this episode, we’re diving into spiritual conditioning in Christian women—what it is, how it shows up, and why so many women are living with anxiety, self-doubt, and pressure instead of the freedom Jesus promised.

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We’re looking at what Scripture actually says about freedom, identity, and the way Jesus leads.

Because the truth is—Jesus didn’t come to silence you or shrink you.
He came to set you free.

✨ You’re not crazy.
✨ You’re not too much.
✨ You’re not alone.

It’s time to start recognizing what’s been shaping your faith—and begin stepping into something healthier, clearer, and rooted in truth.

Transcript

No one told us that trying to be a good Christian woman could actually disconnect us from who God created us to be.

In this episode, we're talking about how to know if what you've been experiencing is actually spiritual conditioning and not just you struggling or not being strong enough in your faith. In the last episode, we talked about the pressure, the expectations, the conditioning that so many of us have experienced as Christian women. But today I really want to get practical.

Cause it's one thing for us to hear about it and to maybe think about this concept, but it's a whole other thing to recognize, wait a second, that's what I've been experiencing. I think this is actually showing up in my life. So we're gonna identify the signs of spiritual conditioning and differentiate that from the actual gospel of Jesus Christ.

You are listening to the Amanda Davison podcast, where us Christian women gather to tell the whole truth, live free from spiritual pressure, and embrace who God created us to be.

What's so fascinating and frustrating for me is when I recognize in myself and with other women, Christian women specifically, is when there is something wrong, when when we're experiencing something, when we have thoughts or feelings around something, maybe we've experienced hurt or pain or we have questions or concerns, typically

The first response after we notice that within ourselves is to shut it down. And we do that because we've been in many ways taught to do that. Just think about it. When you feel something is off.

After you notice that, it's easy to think it must maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the one that's being too sensitive. If you feel something is heavy or difficult or you're stuck in anxiety or overwhelm, what do you probably think after you notice that? It's probably because I'm not praying enough. It's probably because I'm not spending enough time with Jesus or in his word. Those things might be true.

But you blame yourself typically for that, right? If you're uncomfortable, well, maybe you're just being convicted about something. if something's bothering you, you know not to rock the boat, You just gotta play it cool, play it safe, don't say anything that's gonna disrupt this. So you've been taught to oftentimes dismiss what I call self-gaslight in response to how you feel.

I didn't know Jesus till I was 29. I never experienced this outside of the church, which is so fascinating to me as well, that within the church I see us receiving toxic teachings that are telling women, Christian women, to abandon your own self, to erase yourself for their benefit, for their comfort.

So that things stay status quo. And what we learn in that process is that I, my feelings, my experience, my needs need to be dampened or quieted or silenced altogether. And that does not, should not be the case. And a lot of what we've been taught is what we've most often just accepted.

As this is what it looks like to be a Christian woman. But in reality, when I read the scriptures, and I hope when you read the scriptures, which is also interesting because when I ask women, what does actually Jesus say in regards to this? Is that what Jesus says to women, to any of his followers? You know the answer is no. That's not what Jesus does to people. He does not control people, he does not tell us.

To quiet, to pretend, to fake it. No, he wants the truth. he did not silence women. He did not ask us to lie to ourselves or to people, to make other people feel comfortable. He did not create anxious.

Hesitant, second-guessing, people-pleasing, afraid women. I see the opposite. We see the opposite. Jesus said in John 8, verse 32, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free. Not conforming, not rigidity, not unbiblical expectations, but the truth will set you free.

Not pressure, not confusion, not making you feel like you're constantly getting it wrong, or like you just need to keep trying hard or you're not doing enough. No, the truth sets us free. So we have to then ask an honest question if what I'm living under doesn't feel like freedom, then what is it? And then Jesus says, we know Matthew 11, he says.

He says, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. So let's be real. So many of us are carrying something that feels heavy, that feels like an extra layer of clothing, like it's not really, we don't even want to wear it, but it's there's something that we've put on that is not of Jesus.

And that feels oftentimes suffocating because we're in bondage to something that's keeping us from being who God really created us to be. These are heavy expectations, heavy pressures to be good enough, to be right, to be viewed as that great Christian woman or that perfect Christian, to be some version of ourselves that.

We actually are not. It creates a heavy fear of stepping out of line. And it feels heavy. Jesus was very clear. What he gives us does not feel like that. And so let's just look at how Jesus actually treated women. We see in John 4 the example of the Samaritan woman. This is a woman who culturally should have stayed quiet, actually. She had a past.

She had a reputation. She was already pushed into the margins. But Jesus did not silence her. He sat with her. He spoke to her. He revealed truth to her. And then what happened? She went and she told her entire town. He did not take her voice away. He activated it in freedom.

Not shame in full freedom.

She had nothing hindering her from doing that.

And then there's something else really important that we see Jesus doing that we don't talk about and we need to. I don't know why we don't. Also, I probably it might be because

This is a hard one for our spiritual leaders to probably swallow, but strong spiritual leaders will talk about this is the fact that Jesus challenged religious systems that put pressure on people. Jesus challenged those systems. In Matthew 23, he calls out leaders for placing these heavy burdens on people, the their rules, their expectations.

The weights that they cannot carry, Jesus confronted it. He did not say, It's fine. You guys get your act together, listen to what they're saying. You gotta be better. No, he challenged it. He confronted it. He flipped over the tables and said, Enough, stop. This is not the gospel. This is not the message of the gospel. It's not freedom. So if something in your life feels like that pressure, feels like fear, control, silence.

That is not something Jesus ignored. It's something he pushed back on. We see in 2 Corinthians, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. There's freedom. Not fear, not shame, not constant anxiety about whether you're enough, but freedom. And we know we talked about last episode, Galatians 5:1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

So think about this. That means it's actually possible to be saved, to love God, to read your Bible, to memorize scripture, and still be carrying something that feels like bondage. So here are some signs that you have been spiritually conditioned.

And as I say these, notice what hits. Not what you think should be true, but what your body tells you as I go through them. So sign number one, you feel guilty for having thoughts, opinions, or questions. It's like the moment you start thinking differently, there's an immediate check in your spirit. Am I being rebellious? Too much? Too sensitive? Is this wrong? Am I stepping out of line? So instead of exploring it,

You shut it down. Self-gaslight, because you are probably the problem. Sign number two: you've been taught to confuse obedience with silence. You've learned that being a good Christian woman means not questioning, not saying no, accepting their response and letting it override you, or simply not speaking up in the first place. Even when something feels off, you've been taught.

Just let it go. Don't say anything. Don't rock the boat. Sign number three is that you over-spiritualize staying in situations that are actually hurting you. You tell yourself, maybe this is just my cross to carry. Maybe God is teaching me something. Maybe I just need to submit more. But there are good things to hear. So meanwhile, your peace is gone.

Your voice is gone, and deep down you know something isn't right. But you spiritualize your own self-abandonment in the name of false peace. Don't rock the boat, just keep it as is.

Sign number four is that you constantly self-guess yourself. You don't trust your own discernment. Confusion feels like it's in everything. You're looking outside of yourself for confirmation from leaders, from other people, from your husband, or from what you've been taught. This is the way to do it. This is what it's supposed to look like. So you trust that.

And you do that instead of honoring what you know, what you know you need.

Sign number five is you feel anxious, trying to be good enough. Your relationship with God feels more like pressure than peace. Maybe like you're constantly trying to get it right, say the right thing, be hyper positive, have a verse to slap onto anything that isn't in line with what the good Christian woman would obviously never say, and Just do the right things and your faith is gonna grow.

No matter what you do, it never feels like enough. You feel like a fake. You feel like you're ignoring parts of yourself. So even if one of those hit you, it's not something to ignore. Because here is the truth. Not everything that's been labeled biblical in your faith life and journey has actually reflected the heart of Jesus. And this is why it's important.

Because when this is the case, we are not living in that freedom that Christ came to give us. There's a big difference, friend, a big difference between conviction and control between the Holy Spirit and fear-based pressure.

Between true surrender, wholehearted surrender, and losing yourself. And if what you've been experiencing feels like confusion, anxiety, heaviness, or silence, we're gonna get honest about that. I'm begging you to get honest about that

Because awareness is where this starts, not fixing everything overnight or not even having all the answers, but seeing it and naming it, letting yourself admit it and saying something about this isn't right.

So I want to remind you that you are allowed to explore this. You are allowed to ask questions, to think deeply. You're allowed to have a voice. You are allowed to pursue the kind of freedom that Christ came and died to give you. You're allowed to do that. You don't have to stay small. You don't have to fake it anymore.

You are allowed to live a life that is authentically who God made you to be.

So if this resonates with you, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, because we are done babysitting other people's comfort at the expense of ourselves.